Tachyon Node Issues

Tachyon Node is a ‘Zine Publication. Not quite a Fanzine and not quite a Magazine, but a blend of both. It is a collection of short stories (all genres), artwork, and articles. It is meant to be a bridge, conduit, and gateway to all speculative fiction and thought-provoking ideas. Tachyon Node is a dimensional nexus of the multiverse.

Artifacts

by Kelly King

“I’m getting the impression this is not a cold case.”
“Analysis indicates the same . . .”
“Analysis? Wen! You’re spooked.”
“Wayne . . . I am concerned.”
Piper let that sink in. Wen had been concerned maybe two or three times through the two decades they’ve known each other. Each time it was life threatening. The last time, about eight years ago, Wayne nearly lost his legs. He got the bad guys, but the price was high. His legs were saved, but at the cost of his soul . . . to The Most High Goddess. “I want to see.”
Silence.
“Wen . . . ?”
“Wayne, arrangements have been made. We’ll have to go to one of the GraphView rooms in the Boehner McConnell Hall . . .”
Piper raised an eyebrow. “It’s that long?”
“Yes, over several petabytes and protected under the seal of The Most High.”
Piper frowned. “That’s a bit extreme.”
“I’ve already seen it . . . and there is something else.”
“Yes?”
“The items in The Box were not all . . .”

Club Sensation

by Kenneth A. Strickland

Then they got stupid. The robber on the stage hit the dancer and knocked her down.

“You stupid son of a bitch….” Jimmy snarled.

He sprung up and grabbed the robber that was trying to get money from the patrons, took the gun and bent it, and broke his arm. He then leapt for the robber with the gun pointed at the barkeeper and snarled, “You just had to come in here while I was having a bad day!”

He might be small, but Jimmy dislocated the man’s arm out of its socket and growled at the robber on the stage. “I liked her dancing asshole!”

He leapt off the stage taking the third robber with him. The robber swung the gun around at Jimmy and got off two shots. One shot tore through Jimmy’s shoulder and the second tore a gash on his scalp. Jimmy got the man’s gun just as he shot twice more and tore it away. The robber tried to knock Jimmy down with a haphazard swing that missed. Jimmy caught the arm and twisted it behind the robber’s back and slammed him to the ground. Baring his teeth, showing his fangs, he growled, “Don’t do that again!”

I Know Something You Don’t Know

by Moshe Prigan

“I mostly tend to remember bad things.”
“But you just told me you were falling in love with me. Isn’t it a good thing to take away?” Briana winked.
“I wish I would remember. I do want to.”
“You dare not,” she said, hanging her head aside.
“And what’s your earliest bad memory that you’d like to forget?” Briana asked.
“Me sitting in a stroller, aged four, pushed by my older brother. He bumped it into a wall and I hit my head.”
“You have quite amazing memory.”
“And I thought you would say you were sorry I had bumped my head,” Dave laughed, pushing Briana slightly. She pushed him back. Then they embraced.

The Carhayaken Ring

by Tachyon Node Staff

The Carhayaken Ring is a theoretical torus structure made mostly of earth and metal. The disciplines most likely to contribute heavily to its design, development, and construction would be physics, mechanical engineering, nuclear and photovoltaic systems, agriculture, Urban Construction, LEED, 3D printing and environmental sciences. For this paper the ring has a diameter of 10 kilometers and its intended purpose is to provide 1) Data for creating an eventual larger Carhayaken Ring, 2) an alternative option to sending humans to other planets, 3) provide extraordinary real estate for humans to use, and 4) an additional means to the perpetuity of the human species.

Beneath Red Tail Wings

by Patricia I. Williams

“Oh Sarah, that’s great. See I told you he would pull through. It won’t be long before we’re home and this misadventure will be behind us.”
“Thank you Kevin. I hope so I do.”
She couldn’t hold back her tears and Kevin pressed his wrinkled bandana into her hands.
Matt watched them interact, but said nothing. He acknowledged her information with a nod. She didn’t know whether to be angry or not at his lack of verbal response. She returned Kevin’s kerchief and tried to keep the frown from her face as he squeezed her hands a little too tight. Without any more comment, Sarah got into her bedding and tried to sleep.

Psyche

by Brandon Hill

“I hope it wasn’t because of me.” The doctor rubbed his tiny hands together as one of the four pseudopods that grew from his hunched back manipulated the readouts upon the touch screen of his OffBoard peripheral.
“No. Not you,” A flat, mildly sarcastic tone managed to escape her voice, even though she was being earnest. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t like you probing into my head.”
“Oh, surely it’s not so bad,” Dr. Galt protested, with a laugh that was just as dissonantly unsettling as his voice. “Procedure and all that, especially when you’ve got so many bionics attached to you.”
“Yeah. Procedure,” Kate echoed, unable to move much more than her arm to bring the cup of Darjeeling tea to her lips.

In His Own Words

by William Hayashi

“Report!” Captain Babbage called out. She looked the part of the expedition leader, intense blue eyes, sharp but pleasant features against a background of cocoa brown skin and wearing her ubiquitous mission cap. Even while we were training everyone subconsciously responded to her in a deferential manner, military and civilians alike. Her commanding attitude always made her appear taller than her trim, five foot, seven inch frame. Though coming from a media background, even I automatically responded to her as my superior. As far as I could tell she had mastered the art of command and wielded her voice like a finely honed tool.
“According to the log, the I/D Drive has rotated us out of normal space,” Eric reported.
“I’m getting no readings from the instruments, Captain,” Nina reported, clearly perplexed.
“Nothing?” Captain Babbage asked, disbelief in her voice.
“Nothing. No radiation, no atmosphere, no radio static, and as you all can feel, no gravity,” Nina ran through the instrument readings again to make sure. “I say we retract the sun screen and see for ourselves what’s out there.”
“You’re sure there’s no radiation?” Eric asked. “What about something exotic? Is there any way we can tell?”
“There’s no ionizing radiation. If there’s something else that I can’t pick up with the sensors, then we’re just shit out of luck. But at least looking for ourselves should give us some clue because as far as the sensors are concerned there’s absolutely nothing out there!” Nina said in frustration, a frown marring her normally smooth forehead.
The captain looked at me and asked, “What do your cameras show, Ted?”

GEMP

by J Carrell Jones

Both signed, “More, please. May I have another?”
Oscar smiled, “Elder wants to favor Feme and Hela. We go to Hela shelter. Oscar has appetite for pretty Feme and Hela.”
The two blushed and still licking their lips walked, without a word back into the village. Everyone was still asleep, which was good. They walked passed Kiri’s shelter and heard what sounded like Mos’ voice. They knew what he was doing. He favored Kiri. Now Elder was going to favor them and both became excited. The Elder was going to give them more chocolate. As they reached Hela’s Shelter, both Gemps looked at each other and nodded. Elder knew God and he had chocolate, too.